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For media inquiries contact: tiona.m. | bummingcigarettesfilm@gmail.com | 267.270.2478
Philadelphia filmmakertiona.m. Announces her new short film Bumming Cigarettes shot on location in Philadelphia & explores Themes of HIV/AIDS within the Black LGBT community
(Philadelphia, PA) – Award winning filmmaker, tiona.m., isproud to announce her new short film, Bumming Cigarettes, starring Alia Hatch and James Tolbert. Bumming Cigarettes is in the final stretch of a Kickstarter campaign that is set to end on March 13, 2012 to secure post production funding. Following the campaign, Bumming Cigarettes will premiere in Philadelphia, PA in early April 2012 as a private special screening for local HIV/AIDS service providers, community LGBT Activists, and youth. More details about the Bumming Cigarettes special screening will be announced in the coming weeks.
Bumming Cigarettes is a short film about a brief and intimate meeting between a young Black lesbian woman who is in the process of taking an HIV test and a middle aged Black Gay HIV Positive man. Coming off of the devastation of a bad breakup with a girlfriend, Vee musters up the courage to go and take an HIV test to put her worst fears to rest. What she experiences during her trip to a local clinic is much more than she expects while sharing a cigarette with a stranger, Jimmy, during the 10 minutes that she awaits her test results.
Alia Hatch makes a strong debut in this short film, as a young Black lesbian woman looking to discover her status. This is a breakthrough performance for James Tolbert, a native Philadelphian and professional actor living with HIV for 21 years. Alia and James deliver a moving performance in this film that explores complex issues surrounding the HIV/AIDS epidemic including the loss of intimacy and stigma that persons living with HIV/AIDS may encounter, while also encouraging awareness around HIV/AIDS testing and the way we treat persons living with the disease.
Bumming Cigarettes is the first short narrative fiction film from tiona.m. , whose last film, the feature-length documentary, black./womyn.:conversations with lesbians of African descent was awarded the Audience Award for Best Documentary by the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (now QFest) in 2008. She is also in production with her next feature-length documentary The Untitled Black Lesbian Elder Project.
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For more information connect with Bumming Cigarettes Online: Facebook:Bumming Cigarettes-A Short Film | @bummingcigsfilm | www.bummingcigarettes.com | 267-270-2478 | bummingcigarettesfilm@gmail.com
